RS 243 - Requirements for casino operating contract
A. Any bid to conduct casino gaming operations by an applicant shall contain provisions, narrative or schematic or both, describing the management, operation, financial, internal, and security aspects to the proposed conducting of casino gaming operations at the official gaming establishment.
B. The board shall review each bid required by Subsection A hereof and shall determine whether it conforms to the requirements of this Chapter and to any rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and whether the system submitted provides adequate and effective controls of the operation by the person submitting it. If the board finds any insufficiencies, it shall declare the bid submitted as nonconforming.
C. Beginning August 1, 2019, the casino operator is authorized to conduct the following non-casino related activities at the official gaming establishment or at another location subject to the requirements set forth in Paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) of this Subsection:
(1) The casino gaming operator may offer food and restaurant facilities at or in the vicinity of the official gaming establishment consistent with the terms of any agreement between the casino operator and the Louisiana Restaurant Association and its successors, as such agreement may be amended from time to time.
(2) The casino operator may have a meeting space for parties, VIP events, and the like but shall not rent business meeting space for business seminars and training associated with the sale or purchase of rentable units, unless such rentable units are rented at the rates established as provided in Subparagraph (3)(b) of this Subsection.
(3) The casino operator, on its own or through an affiliate, shall not provide lodging, except that the casino gaming operator may own or operate lodging at or in the vicinity of the official gaming establishment consistent with the following conditions and any agreement between the casino operator and the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association and its successors, as such agreement may be amended from time to time:
(a) There shall be no more than four hundred fifty rentable units, and not more than fifteen thousand square feet of meeting space if a hotel is newly constructed or twenty thousand square feet if an existing hotel is purchased or leased that contains such space, from April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2005, provided that after March 31, 2005, additional rentable units may be owned or operated with additional meeting space, only in accordance with any agreement for such increases entered into by and between the casino gaming operator and the Greater New Orleans Hotel-Motel Association and its successors, as such agreement may be amended from time to time.
(b) Except as provided in Subparagraph (c) of this Paragraph and Paragraph (4)(a) of this Subsection, the casino gaming operator shall not advertise room rates to the general public at below market rates. The casino gaming operator shall base room rates on average seasonal rates for the preceding year of hotels located in the Central Business District and French Quarter of the parish of the official gaming establishment as compiled by a nationally recognized firm that compiles data on room rates for such parish.
(c) The casino gaming operator shall not offer complimentary or discounted hotel offerings to the general public, but may, nonetheless, offer complimentary or discounted hotel offerings to: (i) a patron that is a member of the casino gaming operator's or manager's customer reward system or otherwise maintained on the casino operator's or manager's data base; (ii) a known "high roller" or patrons on a junket with established play at the official gaming establishment or with other casinos; (iii) a person that, based upon observed win or loss levels at the casino, is eligible to a discount or full complimentary offerings; (iv) a targeted prospect outside a fifty-mile radius of the official gaming establishment, or not within the state; (v) a person that has suffered a service error that results in a complimentary rate or discount to rectify the error in service; or (vi) a vendor or other person visiting the casino for business or educational purposes.
(d) The casino operator shall not advertise to the general public, which does not include those individuals specified in Items (c)(i) through (vi) of this Paragraph, complimentary or discounted hotel rates; however, the casino gaming operator may advertise rooms rented at the rates established in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph on billboards outside a fifty-mile radius of the official gaming establishment or on billboards outside of Louisiana. The casino operator may otherwise prospect for new customers through advertising media so long as the pricing for rooms is consistent with the rate structure as set forth in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph.
(4)(a) The casino operator is subject to the requirements of a memorandum of understanding and agreement entered into with the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association dated April 2019, which may include an authorization to provide an agreed-upon number of additional hotel rooms at a new hotel site, and a memorandum of understanding and agreement entered into with the Louisiana Restaurant Association dated March 2018. Any action related to the enforcement of the memoranda of understanding and agreements shall be instituted in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board shall retain jurisdiction over the casino operator's compliance with the provisions of this Chapter and any regulations or rules adopted by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.
(b) Among other things, the memorandum of understanding and agreement with the Greater New Orleans Hotel and Lodging Association dated April 2019, shall provide for the following:
(i) Only for those additional rooms authorized by the memorandum of understanding and agreement dated April 2019, advertising of market rates shall be based on average seasonal rates for the preceding year of luxury hotels in the Central Business District, French Quarter, and Warehouse District of the city of New Orleans, as compiled by a nationally recognized firm.
(ii) For rooms existing prior to August 1, 2018, room taxes levied and collected by the city of New Orleans shall be paid by the casino gaming operator on all complimentary rooms at the applicable tax rates based upon average seasonal rates for the preceding year of hotels in the Central Business District and French Quarter of the city of New Orleans, as compiled by a nationally recognized firm. For those hotel rooms added after 2019 and authorized by the memorandum of understanding and agreement dated April 2019, room taxes levied and collected by the city of New Orleans shall be paid by the casino operator on all complimentary rooms at the applicable tax rates based upon average seasonal rates for the preceding year of luxury hotels in the Central Business District, French Quarter, and Warehouse District of the City of New Orleans, as compiled by a nationally recognized firm.
(iii) Complimentary rooms provided by the casino gaming operator shall not be subject to the state sales and use tax. Room taxes levied and collected by the city of New Orleans, sales and use taxes levied by the state of Louisiana, and sales and use or occupancy taxes levied by any other political subdivision on rooms provided at a discount by the casino gaming operator shall be paid at the applicable rates based on the amount actually paid or charged for the room.
(iv) In order to establish and stabilize the amount of occupancy taxes to be paid by the casino gaming operator to the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District and the Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority for complimentary rooms provided by the casino gaming operator, which amount is otherwise uncertain, the casino gaming operator shall enter into a binding memorandum of understanding with the Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District and the Ernest N. Morial-New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority to provide for cumulative annual payments for the occupancy taxes of not less than one million three hundred thousand dollars per year, with the first payment beginning on July 1, 2022, and continuing through July 31, 2054, the payment to be made on a quarterly basis as may be set forth in the binding memorandum of understanding. Any action related to the enforcement of the binding memorandum of understanding set forth herein and any related agreements shall be instituted in the Civil District Court for the parish of Orleans.
(5) The casino gaming operator shall remit state and local sales and use taxes at the applicable tax rates on all complimentary and discounted food, beverage, or entertainment offerings based on the actual value of food, beverage, or entertainment provided. The casino gaming operator shall remit state and local sales and use taxes at the applicable tax rates on all parking provided at a charge to the customer or the general public.
(6) The casino gaming operator shall not engage in such activities as are prohibited by the casino operating contract.
Acts 1992, No. 384, §1, eff. June 18, 1992. Redesignated from R.S. 4:643 by Acts 1996, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 7, §3, eff. May 1, 1996; Acts 2001, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 1, §2, eff. Mar. 21, 2001; Acts 2019, No. 171, §1; Acts 2021, No. 408, §1, eff. July 1, 2021.